Grimm’s Fundraising Falls Far Behind Challenger Recchia

U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm raised $23,430 in the month of June, less than 10% of the amount raised by his Democratic challenger in the same period, according to federal campaign finance filings released Tuesday.

U.S. Representative Michael Grimm talks to reporters outside his office on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. in April.

Reuters

Former New York City Councilman Domenic Recchia, a Democrat hoping to unseat Mr. Grimm, raised $261,693 in June, according to documents his campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday.

Fundraising has tapered off in recent months for Mr. Grimm, a Staten Island Republican indicted in April on charges that included tax fraud and hiring illegal immigrants at the Manhattan restaurant he once owned. Mr. Grimm has said he is innocent.

Mr. Grimm was once a healthy fundraiser. Between January and the end of March, Mr. Grimm raised $345,748 . But from April 1 through June 6, he raised only $47,200.

As he heads into a matchup against Mr. Recchia, a former New York City Councilman, Mr. Grimm has slightly more than $1 million in his war chest, but his campaign owes $438,565 in legal debts.

Mr. Recchia has more than $1.2 million in cash-on-hand and no debts, according to the federal campaign filings. His donor list included about 200 individual donors in June, a list that included actress Barbara Streisand, philanthropist George Soros, Mets owner Fred Wilpon and the Democratic National Campaign Committee.

Congressional candidate Domenic Recchia speaks with voters at the Ferry Terminal in Manhattan in May.

Kevin Hagen for The Wall Street Journal

No national Republicans donated to Mr. Grimm’s campaign in June, the filings show. Instead, the entire $23,430 came from 18 local donors on Staten Island.

Mr. Recchia is outspending Mr. Grimm, reporting $55,946 in campaign expenditures in the month of June, versus $13,104 for Mr. Grimm. Mr. Grimm’s campaign reported $214,397 in campaign spending in the months of April and May.

Mr. Grimm said his campaign is “absolutely on track and where we need to be.” He said he had fundraised aggressively over the past year.

“My support is based on my achievements in Congress,” Mr. Grimm said in an email, noting his role in bringing Sandy aid to the district, which was hard-hit by the October 2012 storm.

Mr. Recchia said in a news release that Mr. Grimm’s legal woes had hurt him with Staten Island voters. “”We’ve been running a strong grassroots campaign from the very beginning, and today’s filings are a reflection of the effort we will continue to pour into our volunteer-based infrastructure” Mr. Recchia said.